Tuesday, December 31, 2013

It's New Year's Eve , December 31th again. This will be the last update for this year. It is update # 62, my lowest number of updates ever on this blog. I had a high of 125 in 2008, with 95 in 2009 and 91 in 2011. I am really disappointed with this low output. I will certainly endeavour to do better in the new year.

My first card for today is from Japan. Best of all it's an Airline/Aircraft card. This one is a Japan Airlines B777-200. A nice airplane and one I have flown in. Not the Japan Airlines one , mind you.

A Postcrosser named Kozue sent this card and used a couple of stamps. The Bee definitive on the left was issued in 1997 . The stamp on the right is 1 of 5 issued in 2012 for National Sports Festival.

Card # 2 is a shaped card while also a shapely card. This shapely , well tanned young lady came all the way from Perth, Western Australia.

Heather from Down Under used a couple of recent stamps on her card. The vertical stamp on the left is a Wishing Stamp from 2013. If is from a set of 6. The other stamp was issued in 2012 and is 1 of 5 in a set highlighting Agriculture in Australia. This particular stamp shows Grapes grown in the production of Wine.

This next card arrived from India and shows us the Blue Mormon butterfly. It is a large swallowtail butterfly found in South India and Sri lanka.

This card is a Postcrossing Meetup Card . It is from Bishnu who attended the Postcrossing Meet at Dharwad on the 20th of October, 2013. Bishnu used 2 2013 Flower stamps.

Here's one more Railway card for the railway /train collectors out there. It's the Alishan Forrest Railway, 86 km of narrow-guage track in Alishan, Taiwan. It's quite the tourist attraction with unique z shaped switchbacks, 50 tunnels and more than 77 wooden bridges.

Mei used a number of stamps including 1 stamp issued in 2013 highlighting Children's Games. It is 1 of 5 in the set. The stamp on the right , also from 2013, is from a set of 4 entitled Outlaws of the Marsh.

Food and wine can be found on this next car, which actually came from Le Berthoud, a restaurant in Paris, France. The card though was mailed from Kiev, Ukraine. Anastasia was visiting Paris and obviously enjoyed Le Berthoud enough to pick up this card.

Anastasia used stamps from 2011 and 2012. The left stamp is a Europa Forests stamps from 2011 and the right stamp is from a set of 4 Windmills.

Here's another shaped card, but not as shapely as the earlier one. On this one we see 9 different views of Slovenia. Included are Bled, Julijske Alpe, Reka Mura, Bohinj, Ljubljana, Rogaska Slatina, Portoroz, Izola and Piran.

Michaela wrote on her card that she loves ice hockey and that the Toronto Maple Leafs is her favourite team. I don't want to be the one to tell her that a Stanley Cup may not be in the works again this year.

Michaela used a nice Cat stamp, if one likes cats, from May of this past year.

I think 6 cards is enough to end off the year with. Thanks to Michaela, Anastasia, Mei, Bishnu, Heather and Kozue for all these wonderful cards.

Now I want to wish all my readers, postcard bloggers, postcard collectors and stamp collectors all the best for the upcoming year 2014.

A very special Thank You to everyone who has sent postcards this past year. This blog would not exist without your cards .

Thursday, December 26, 2013

It's time for another update, the after Christmas update. Let's get right to it.
My first card comes from South Africa. The card shows Zulu Traditions, in this case - Stick Fighting. The art of stick fighting is a skill learnt by Zulu men from an early age. My card shows young Zulus stick fighting in PheZulu Safari Park in the Valley of a Thousand Hills.

Bruce used an International Small Letter Rate stamp , 1 of 5 in a set, issued in 2009.

My second card today is a Postbox. This one is from the Netherlands. Not a bad looking postbox.

Gerda used 3 stamps which she wrote could only be used up on till this past November. They are all pre Euro. The one on the left was issued in 1999, 1 of 10 in a set highlighting 17th Century Dutch Art. The hand stamp in the middle is from 2000 and is 1 of 10 Greeting stamps. The right stamp is 1 of 2 issued in 1982 featuring Palaces.

Here's an aviation themed card from the Czech Republic. It's a biplane and that's about all I can tell you about this card.

Jana used a really large stamp , dating from 2008. It is a portion of a J.J. Hartman painting from around 1700.

Card # 4 is from Bangkok, Thailand. It is a great card for my Aircraft on Postcards Collection. It is a fighter aircraft of the Royal Thailand Air Force. The RTAF uses Gripens, F-16s and F-5s. I'm no expert on military aircraft but I think this one is a Gripen. I'm sure the experts out there will let me know if I'm wrong. Here it is, what do you think ?

Vitavat used a beautiful selection of aviation stamps issued for the centennial of the Royal Thailand Air Force. They are 4 of 8 issued in 2012.

That's all I have for this time. A little shorter than usual. Thanks for cards go to Bruce, Gerda, Jana and Vitavat. I'll be back again soon. Leave a comment if you have one. Take care.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

It's Christmas Eve 2013 - Merry Christmas To One and All

Once again as Christmas
Day is just about upon us, I want to take this opportunity to wish all
my fellow postcard collectors , cover and stamp collectors and
bloggers , along with all my readers a very Merry Christmas. My
Christmas wishes for all of you are again summed up in the 3 Christmas
stamps issued by Canada Post in 2007. Hope , Joy, and Peace. What more could we ask for ?

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Well it's a busy, busy time of year, but I'm squeezing another update in before the Big day. I have 8 or 9 cards set aside for this time , but we'll see how it goes. My first card comes from Villach, Austria. It is a city surrounded by mountains and located on the Drava River. With a population of 60,000 it is the seventh-largest city in the country.

Swen used a nice stamp from 2012 commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the birth of Gustav Klimt. It arrived with a rare socked on the nose cancel.

My second card shows a lovely ballerina adjusting her slipper. Jenny from Hong Kong wrote that she loves ballet and that's why she chose this card.

The stamp on the left is from this current year, 2013. It is 1 of 6 in a set issued to showcase the Restoration of Historic Buildings. The smaller stamp on the right is 1 of 16 Bird definitives issued in 2006.

This next card , when I first looked at it, brought back memories of that great medical drama television series ER, which ran from 1994-2009. A few of the actors on ER included Noah Wyle, George Clooney and Julianna Margulies. You might ask why this card reminded me of ER and here's why. The card shows the Chicago EL or L train. The L or elevated train dates back to 1892 and has an annual ridership of over 231 million. Oh yes, about the L and ER, I remember well many , many scenes in the tv series where the L was featured .

Alexa used the round U.S. Global, Forever stamp from 2013.

A Finnair MD-11 is flying in next. Another great addition to my Airlines/Aircraft Collection. Finnair operated MD-11s from Dec 1990 to Feb 2010. Finnair is in its 90th year off operations, having started up in 1923. I haven't yet had the pleasure of flying in a MD-11 , but have flown a number of times in a DC-10, of which the MD-11 is a derivative.

Oona used the first stamp of 2013 issued by Finland. It is a self-adhesive celebrating Sledging.

Here's a card that really shows the conditions here in my office, where I produce this blog, in addition to enjoying my stamps, and postcards. This fellow is jumping for joy on receiving a postcard. He's surrounded by stamps, postcards and stamp or postcard albums. He even has pins stuck in a globe showing the places his cards have arrived from. I don't have a globe, but I do have a world map on the wall stuck with hundreds of colored pins. I didn't know why I was showing this card, but on second look, it all fell in place.

Julie from Belgium sent this great card and used 2 recent stamps . On the left is a Butterfly stamp from 2012. It is 1 of 2 in a set of self-adhesives which are imperforated on 1 or 2 sides . The other stamp is from 2013 and 1 of 3 in a set featuring King Philippe.

North Africa by Air is the title of this next card. It's also my last for today, I know, it's not 8 or 9 as I mentioned above, but it is enough , just the same.
I really like this card, it brings back memories of The Flight of the Phoenix.

Fabienne used a really great aviation stamp here. It is a 2013 Roland Garros stamp. He was an early French aviator who in 1913 flew the first non-stop flight across the Mediterranean Sea from France to Tunisia. A somewhat high valued stamp. Be sure to check out Fabienne's postcard blog here .

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Hello again. Here we go again. Today's cards come from Northern Ireland, France, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates and Luxembourg.
First up is the mighty White Star Liner Titanic. Everyone knows the story, so let's just move right to the picture.

David posted this card in Belfast and used a Great Britain Christmas stamp. It is 1 of 7 in the set.

David has a very good postcard blog called ""Postcards a world travelogue ". You can have a look at it here . It's well worth the effort.

Card # 2 for today is another addition to my Airlines/Aircraft on Postcards Collection. It's an Air Inter Airbus A 330. Apparently Air Inter only operated the A330 for two years, so one could think that not a lot of these cards are on the go. Air Inter operated the A 330 in an all economy cabin of 412 seats. Air Inter lated merged with Air France in 1995.

Jean Pierre used a 2013 Alexandre Yersin stamp, one of two in the set, a Joint Issue with Vietnam. I think I have said this before but it merits repeating. As a long time stamp collector, I believe collecting Joint Issues would be a very interesting area of philately to collect.

Before I leave Air Inter, I have this to share. I have had for some time this original black & white photo. I don't remember how I ended up with it, but I know I have had it for almost 40 years. It shows an Avions Marcel Dassault Mercure , registration F-WTCC # 01, the 1st prototype of this aircraft type , along with an Air Inter Dassault Mercure 100, registration F-WTMD #2, the 2nd prototype of this aircraft type. Have a look here.

Card # 3 is of Weligama Beach , a popular tourist destination in Southern Province, Sri Lanka. Located 144 km from Colombo, it is most famous for its stilt fisherman. Looks like a great place to spend a couple of days and just relax.

Ravindra used an assortment of stamps, all but the one in the lower left were issued this year.

Here's a look at another beach, this time it's Jumeirah Beach and Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Not a bad looking spot either.

Jean Pierre used a number of stamp related stamps on this card. The 2 stamps on top were issued as part of a set of 4 this year. They commemorated 50 Years of Postal Service in Abu Dhabi. The other stamp is from 2001 , highlighting the 7th Gulf Cooperation Council Stamp Exhibition.

The final card for this time comes from Luxembourg. Another addition to my Airlines/Aircraft on Postcards Collection. It's a Luxair Embraer ERJ-145. Luxair or Luxembourg Airlines has 6 of these in its fleet and they hold 49 passengers.

-

This is another card from Meelis. The card arrived with a set of Cats stamps issued this year. I do like the tiger stamp.

That's all for this time. Thanks for cards go to David, Jean Pierre, Ravindra, and Meelis.
Take care , enjoy your weekend. Leave a comment if so inclined. See you next time.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Friday the 13th, no I don't have any cards related to this day/date. I'm sure you can buy them somewhere though. Yes, I've been away from the blog for 3 weeks or so. Time to get back at it. During that blogging hiatus I did manage to get away for 10 days, a little sun, a little sand, and lots of hot temperatures. Early winter continues here in Alberta, very cold , lots of snow. I even managed to miss a major snow blizzard while away, so that was good. Luckily cards continue to arrive , so I do have lots to show.

Let's start with a card from Francis in Portland , OR, USA . It's an aviation related card from Pearson Airpark. Pearson Airpark is one of the oldest operating airfields in the United States, dating back to a dirigible landing in 1905. The initial airplane flight from there was in 1911. The world's first non-stop transpolar flight landed at Pearson in June, 1937 after leaving Moscow, Russia 63 Hours and 16 minutes earlier.

Francis used an abundance of stamps. The nicest one is the one commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the First Solo Transatlantic Flight. In the early morning of Friday, 20 May 1927, Charles Lindbergh took off
from Roosevelt Field, New York, on his successful attempt to fly nonstop
from the American continental land mass to the European continental
land mass. Over the next 33.5 hours, Lindbergh and the "Spirit of St.
Louis" encountered many challenges before landing at Le Bourget Airport
near Paris, France, at 10:22 PM (22:22) on Saturday, 21 May 1927,
completing the first solo crossing of the Atlantic.

Francis has a postcard blog called "the-geo-nerd" and you can have a look at it here . Don't let the blog name fool you, it's a good one.

My second card is from Cebu City, Philippines. The Heritage of Cebu Monument is shown on this card. The monument is located in the original Plaza Parain at Colon St. It is a monumental sculptural tableau showcasing the significant and symbolic
events in the history of the city. It was constructed between 1997 and 2000.

Michael sent this card , after arriving in Cebu just 24 hours after typhoon Haiyan hit The Philippines back in November. The stamp is from a set of 10 issued in 2011 featuring Marine Life.

Like Francis, Michael also has a great blog about stamps and aerophilately. It's called "cddstamps on aircraft & aerophilately ". You can find it here .

This next card is a new addition to my Airlines on Postcards Collection. It was sent by Meelis from Saarburg, Germany. It gives a view of Frankfurt Airport at night. Lots of Lufthansa aircraft on this one.

Meelis used a couple of stamps featuring former Chancellors of Germany. On the left is Helmut Kohl, Chancellor from 1982-1998. On the right is Willy Brandt, Chancellor from 1969-1974.

Here's today's final card. It comes from France and shows some of the old parts of Nancy. The city is in the north-eastern part of the country and was formerly the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine. Notice the Cross of Lorraine on the facade of the large building near the center of the card.

Dominique used a stamp from 2013 featuring the Pont Levant Jacques Chaban-Delmas, a vertical lift bridge over the Garonne in Bordeaux.

That the update for this time. Thanks for cards going out to Francis, Michael, Meelis and Dominique.